BENGALURU: A first-year nursing student at a city college is battling for life at a private hospital, after attempting suicide last week. According to his family, he tried to kill himself after being ragged in the hostel, but college authorities and his friends say this was not the case.
On January 28, Thamari Chelvan (18) of South East Asian College of Nursing, KR Puram, was found hanging in his hostel room. He was taken to Manipal Hospitals, where he is undergoing treatment. He is among the 15 from Tamil Nadu who had signed up for the nursing course and were staying at the college hostel.
On January 28, Thamari and two of his friends, Pandiyan and Denis, did not attend classes saying they were unwell and stayed back at the hostel. While Pandiyan and Denis were on the ground floor, Thamari attempted suicide by hanging in his room around 11.15 am.
His brother Karthik T told Express that Thamari had called him an hour before attempting suicide. “He told me that he was in trouble, that four of his hostelmates had been harassing him and trying to extort `3,000 from him,” he said.
He said the four students had asked Thamari to “kill himself” if he couldn’t give them the money.
Thamari’s uncle K Perumal said the college had failed to ensure safety of its students and claimed there was no security guard in the hostel.